Environmental Impact of Composting Plants

Abstract

Planning to build a compo sting plant in Germany will almost surely provoke the emergence of an action group to prevent its erection. It is especially the odours emitted by a number of compost plants that effect the relations with the residents. Beside the odours we found some other possible emission like dust, noise, leakage water and micro-organisms.

Environmental impacts of new and carefully planned plants are reduced to odours and germ-emissions, whereas the other emissions can be disregarded according to the closed buildings.

Nevertheless the first main point of the paper will be the leakage water. If we believe in compost industry, new compo sting plants do not produce any waste water. This contention seems to be wrong. Actually the volume of leakage water often is higher than the low quantities we found in literature.

Next main point of the paper will be new measuring dates of odour concentrations and odour flow rates. We will look to the problems of the authorities with this dates.

The third main point is the description and valuation of investigations on germemissions. The loading of microorganisms - special fungi - on composting-workman seems to be dangerous. Opposite to this there are no risks for the neighbours of a composting plant.